Hamilton, Perez handed grid penalties

Fri, 28 Oct 09:24:00 2011

Lewis Hamilton fell foul of
the Formula One stewards once again on Friday when he was handed
a three-place penalty on the starting grid for the inaugural
Indian Grand Prix after ignoring yellow warning flags in first
practice.

The McLaren driver had set the fastest lap, in the final
seconds, in the first ever session run at the Buddh
International circuit.

Sauber's Mexican Sergio Perez was also handed a similar
sanction after stewards ruled he had committed the same offence
of ignoring double waved yellow flags at turn 16 while a car was
being recovered by marshals in close proximity to the track.

The sanction ended Hamilton's hopes of a second successive
pole position on Saturday after qualifying fastest in the last
race in South Korea.

It also boosted Red Bull's chances of setting a Formula One
record of 16 poles in a single season. The champions have
already chalked up 15.

Hamilton has made regular appearances in front of the
stewards this season after a series of crashes and
controversies.

One of the four stewards for Sunday's grand prix is
Hamilton's fellow-Briton and former racer Johnny Herbert.